Customer Reviews

The Things We Cherished: A Novel

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"The Things We Cherished" is an energizing experience that speaks of two love stories and a time prior to and during WWII when the world was in turmoil.

Charlotte Gold has a background in researching the Holocaust. She and Jack Warrington are in Germany to team up for the legal defense of Roger Dykmans.

The Germans hadn't been pursuing war crimes cases but the Department of Justice pressured them into action.

Historicans uncovered information implicating Roger in selling out his brother, Hans, to the Germans. Hans,was a German diplomat who was attempting to help rescue Jewish people from Germany during WWII.

Roger isn't helpful in his defense so Charlotte and Jack travel to Wadowice, Poland, attempting to uncover anything to help with the case. They learn about Magda, who Roger loved but was married to his brother, Hans.

The story moves back in time to 1940 and we observe what was happening in Berlin with the German round up of Jewish people who lived in constant fear of betrayal and being taken away by the authorities. Roger, who is not Jewish, came to Berlin as a student to live with his brother Hans and Hans' wife, Magda.

With moving back and forth between time periods, Pam Jenoff slows down the pace of the story as if lengthening the drama and allowing the reader to feel for the independent Magda, who rebels at being a captive in her own home, just because she is Jewish. Then, with Hans away for much of the time, she and Roger become romantically involved.

The reader is rewarded for staying with the story when the pace slows down because the suspense and action pick up becoming more effective as it does.

Both Charlotte and Jack are fully realized characters of whom we become attached to and wish that they will succeed in their goal and their lives.

The conclusion will remain in the readers memory and "The Things We Cherished" is a unique and absorbing experience.

Pam Jennoff's latest novel, The Things We Cherished, is in essence a conglomeration of many sub plots cleverly woven into an intriguing WWII based love story. This book starts in modern day Philadelphia and travels a century back through 1960 Eastern Germany, WWII Poland and Germany, and post WWI Bavaria. It centers around an excuisitely made time piece that survives the hardships of the century and is the witness to many love stories.

The story starts with Charlotte a modern day public defence attorney who is asked by her first love and the one who broke her heart, to help complete legal research in order to exonerate a man accused of Nazi war crimes during WWII. It is an intriguing story that leads you through many characters, time periods and twists and turns.

Jennoff once again has crafted a story that will have you turning page after page, unable to set it down. She is a master of developing characters that could step off the page and into your life. They are that believable - whole and flawed.

Pam Jennoff's writing is simplistic and easy to read. If I had to criticize this story, it would be that at times the sub-plots and number of characters can become confusing. During the story you may stop and question yourself, but keep reading. Everything comes together at the end. This book is definitely worth the read. It offers a love story, intrigue, suspence, historical content and a modern twist all wrapped into one beautifully constructed package.

The story describes two love triangles - a century apart. Today's lawyers, the Warrington brothers and Charlotte Gold, are tasked with the defense of Roger Dykmans who loved his brother's wife Magda during the Holocaust. The narrative is woven around the tale of a handcrafted timepiece which has a heartbreaking past of its own.

Young adult and adult readers may enjoy the mystery of the clock's evidence as a defense against the horrible crime of betraying a brother and innocent children to the Nazis. The love stories convey elation, uncertainty, longing, and denial. The author easily navigates from one time period to another with well-written dialogue and prose. The characters are both relatable and sympathetic, the reader will enjoy them. The plot is horrifying yet interesting, the reader's attention will be held.

The story enthralled me and I read it pretty quickly. The holocaust is a touchy subject, my grandfather lost most of his family during it, so reading a book (even fictional) about defending a nazi criminal was probably not the 1st book I would choose to read. I ordered the sample out of curiosity, read it and ordered the book soon after.

The book decription posted is very accurate. Charley is in her 30s and is a person set in her ways but is given a chance to really live the way she imagined when she was younger and life didn't get in the way. She goes outside her current comfort level to help an old boyfriend who broke her heart. The book has a good story, intrique, romance and sadness (not depressing). I really enjoyed how Pam Jenoff pieced it together. The book goes back and forth in time but is very easy to follow. It leaves this reader wishing the book wasn't over, I do think I would have liked it a little longer but it had a good ending. I really enjoyed it and will look to read other books by this author (this was my first).

I confess that I began The Things We Cherished fully predisposed to fall for the story and the characters. Historical fiction set during World War II, a Holocaust hero who loses his life while saving Jews in Germany, "fiercely independent attorneys who find themselves slowly falling for one another", and a heart-wrenching, life altering love story -- a recipe for a fascinating and engrossing read.

In fact, I started the book yesterday as I traveled from NYC to Boston. It was the perfect escape for the four and a half hour trip. I've convinced my mom to read the book on her 19 hour trip back to Asia next week.

Here's what I enjoyed about The Things We Cherished and why I recommend that you read it too:

Pam Jenoff has created complex, sympathetic, and engaging characters -- both those that lived during World War II and those lawyers living in the present -- and Jenoff forces each of the characters to face nuanced, big picture dilemmas while keeping the characters real. Jenoff has taken great care to make each of the people that you meet memorable. One of my favorites is a less central character, a clockmaker named Johann who lived in a small town in Bavaria in 1902. Johann advances the materials to create a one of a kind anniversary clock in the hope that the wealthiest man in their small town will make good on his order and that this will enable him to take his pregnant wife Rebecca to America. The clock is his chance to make a new start, just as the town's economy seems to be collapsing. When he's completed the clock, he dresses in his best clothes and brings his work to the merchant. When the wealthy Herr Hoffel refuses to pay the agreed 100 because business is slow, it takes courage and a sense of his own worth for Johann to refuse the offer. The scene comes early in the book and as I read it, Johann reminded me of the father in Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief, one of my favorite literary characters.

Jenoff takes seemingly unconnected story lines that are each interesting on their own and weaves them together to make this deeply engrossing and satisfying read.

ISBN-10: 0385534205 - Hardcover $27.95

Publisher: Doubleday (July 12, 2011), 304 pages.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Marvelously researched book dealing with the aftermath of WWII Jewish folk and how they dealt with the War. The triangle of Charlotte and brothers Brian and Jack was intriguing. I think Charlotte made the right choice in the end. The story weaves between characters and past with present day. I followed the characters and how they all worked together, but although Chapter Four about Sol and Jake was interesting it never really re-appeared in the story other than that the clock was taken - thus traveling some more within Europe. If someone could tell me if I'm missing this point, let me know. Overall, great message.

Charlotte Gold is happy as an attorney in the public defender's office working with challenging juvenile cases. A very different job than the one she had as an associate at a large New York firm. She thought those days were behind her now but out of nowhere Brian, a man from the past who had broken her heart, shows up in her office to ask a favor. A wealthy client of Brian's firm, Roger Dykmans, has been accused of WWII era crimes and he needs her to assist with the defense. Charlotte has a background in these types of cases and her expertise would be invaluable.

Charlotte agrees to help with the case for one week. She arrives in Germany only to find that the client will not cooperate in his own defense other than to say the proof of his innocence lies in an antique clock. To further complicate matters the attorney that Charlotte is assisting in Germany is Brian's brother, whom with she finds herself becoming romantically involved.

In alternating chapters we go back to the turn of the century Bavaria to learn the history of the clock and it's significance in Roger's defense. I like the use of this technique to interweave a story from the past to the present. I found the story of the clock and it's various owners to be more interesting than Charlotte's story in the present.

It's not believable that Charlotte would drop everything and run off to help someone that she had not spoken to in years and when she last encountered him he was telling her to get lost and that he had replaced her with a new girlfriend. Within a short period of time he married that new girlfriend. No, that is not someone I would dash off to another continent to help. I also had trouble believing that Charlotte would fall for the brother so quickly, after all she was there to work not on a holiday.

If you're looking for a fast, light read and a fantasy romance this book would be a good choice. The tale of the clock added a mystery and there was an interesting twist with the story lines neatly tied up in the end. I don't read a lot of romances; I picked this one up because of the historical and mystery angle. As far as the romance, if you like Danielle Steele novels you will probably love this book.

When Charlotte's ex, Brian, shows up in her office asking for help on a case, she wants to say no. She really does. Instead she finds herself in Germany working on Brian's case with Brian's brother Jack (Brian himself being unable to make it). Their client, Roger Dykmans, is accused of WWII-era war crimes, and though he refuses to cooperate with his own defense team, he insists that he is innocent. As Charlotte and Jack investigate Roger's past, they end up getting to know each other, and Charlotte begins to see Jack in ways she never expected to see an ex's sibling.

Chapters alternate between Roger's life in the 1930s and earlier and Charlotte and Jack in present day, with flashes of a turn of the century clockmaker mixed in. Jenoff really managed to create atmosphere in the past stories in a way that was lacking the the present day storyline. On the other hand, the past stories weren't nearly as fleshed out as that of Charlotte and Jack. The romance in each of the storylines was convincing, complicated, and (mostly) tragic, but they all lined up a little too nicely for my taste. Once something happened in Roger's life it was easy to see how it would be replicated in Charlotte and Jack's interactions. But while the plots of the past and present stories were connected, 1930s Roger seemed to have very little to do with 2000s Roger. In the present day he is just a reason for Charlotte and Jack to flit about Europe and do some digging; he never really became a character. I get it; his life was SUPER tragic and he deserves to spend his old age locked in a shell. Still. And (not to get to spoilery) Jenoff takes an easy out of the one situation that could make past-Roger and present-Roger collide.

Even so, this was a pretty enjoyable read. I just wish that when it came time for an ending, Charlotte and Jack weren't Jenoff's only concerns.

Book source: ARC provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program

This book achieves an intricate weaving of two romances set in different eras. A young American attorney is asked by her former lover to assist in the defence of an elderly German who has been accused of betraying his brother to the Nazis during the War and has,through that deed ,unwittingly caused the deaths of many Jewish children.

He denies his guilt and eventually reveals there may be evidence to prove his innocence.

A fascinating story unfolds which takes us to many European destinations and describes a touching love story between her client and his brother's wife. Then there is a contemporary romance evolving between Charlotte ,the American lawyer and the other defence attorney who turns out to be the brother of her ex-lover!

The maintool for the defence case seems to be an unusual clock and their pursuit of this takes them far and wide while the final outcome of the contemporary love story leaves us hanging until the very end of the book.

I love Pam Jenoff's books. They evoke strong emotions in me. This is the first book of hers that hasn't caused me to breakdown and sob my heart out. She picks topics that cause not only sadness due to exposure of the darker side of human nature, which people try to hide, but also awe. Her books have all had the evils of the Holocaust as a backdrop and each one has been enthralling.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read to the book to find that the story was much more then a romance set between Jack and Charlotte, as suggested by the blurb. Not that Ms.Jenoff has written any purely romantic stories to date. There is intrigue and the exposure of the painful realities of that time. But best of all, Ms.Jenoff's books are like food for the mind. They cause you think and wonder and see the grey areas. I look forward to reading more from her.